Thank you for writing "Bittersweet Reunion"! I enjoyed it immensely and it has definitely found a place on my list of all-time favorite Roudise stories! And thank you for offering to answer readers' questions about it! Here are a couple (hopefully, not too many) I've been wondering about:
This is really basic, and possibly it was mentioned in an earlier chapter and I just don't remember, but what age are Louise and Rudy supposed to be in the story?
I would love to know where you got the idea for the story from or what inspired you to write it? As I mentioned in my comment on the last chapter, to me Louise and Rudy feel like the least likely of the Belcher kid friendships to fall out of each other's lives, so I'm curious what led you to think of a story starting from the premise.
In the second to last chapter, Rudy explains that reason he left town was because he needed to get away from his parents. I know you started the story well before "The Amazing Rudy" aired and I was wondering if that episode- where we see Rudy's mom for the first time and see more of his relationship with his dad- changed your view of his relationship with his parents or led you to change anything about how that part of Chapter 11 was written? (Of course, there's all sorts of things that can happen in parent-child relationships between the ages of 9 and 18 that could explain why older teen Rudy would feel the need to get away from them.)
I loved the way you wrote the older Pesto twins in Chapter 3! I find the Pesto twins to be the hardest characters to imagine aged up versions of (I actually decided not to write a scene with them in it for my Roudise wedding fic when I realized I was still writing them like they were 9). I was wondering how you came up with the ideas you did for them and if you had any additional ideas for them that didn't make it into the story?
Similarly, where are there any ideas for any of the other background characters that you weren't able to work into the story but would like to share? (Feel free to ignore if this will spoil other stories you are working on.)
Thank you for reading it, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And don't worry, I'm happy to answer all the questions ( ╹▽╹ )
1. Louise and Rudy are in their early to mid 30s in this. I really wanted to capture the vibes of people can find love at any age (vs Gene and Tina who in this au find love in college and right after).
I also wanted to emphasize that Louise has a very established life at this point, she's taken over the restaurant, she has friends and weekly hang outs, she isn't necessarily looking for anything romantic to happen, but sometimes it happens anyways.
I just think it was interesting to explore a budding relationship between two people who very much know who they are, as opposed to younger people just figuring out who they are in life.
2. This story actually started with me thinking about how I really wanted Louise to take over the restaurant when she's older, and things kind of grew from there.
Another thing I really wanted to explore is this sort of abandonment issue Louise has. That's not quite the words for it, but I always got the vibe that she cares so strongly for the people in her life and hates when they have to/choose to leave, which ended up being a really interesting dynamic to explore when coupled with her figuring out she's in love.
3. Rudy's parents seemed to me the easiest vehicle for his moving away. We've seen how Sylvester acts (even though he cares, he obviously has his own problems, as illustrated in the House of 1000 Bounces and The Kids Rob a Train), and in earlier episodes Rudy talked about his mother caring very strongly about his safety and "hating fun".
Obviously that seems to change as the seasons go on, and especially with The Amazing Rudy. I did consider changing the story at that point, but why Rudy left was kind of woven throughout the story, and I realized that it's fanfiction. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate to canon, and the story probably wouldn't be 100% accurate even if I did change it.
I did love seeing how much his parents actually care in The Amazing Rudy, and I think it was a really great episode to analyze the inner workings of our favorite asthmatic boy.
4. My portrayal of the Pesto twins is 100% inspired by @tallgirl14, whose work I saw on TikTok. She's got some really great comics of the kids in high school, and she illustrates the twins as these sort of trouble makers because anyone who is friends with Louise for so long has to be a little crafty.
I sincerely recommend you check out her work, her art is so cute and makes me squeel every time.
Once I had the personality, it did take a little work to figure out where they would be and what they'd be up to, but I really liked the idea of them being restaurateurs with Louise, and even having a fake rivalry to draw business. Of course, leaning more into real Italian food than their father, even taking a trip to Italy to reconnect to their mother's heritage. Don't remember if I did write that into chapter two or three, but that's my favorite detail about them for sure (´∩。• ᵕ •。∩`)
5. I did actually do a lot of thinking about Millie's character, even though she is barely in the story. She's definitely a regular at the restaurant, coming in for coffee every morning and afternoon, and she works as a detective for the police.
I'm still a very acab person, but being a detective just fits Millie's personality, and honestly the way she can be a bit obsessive and a little less than moral fits the cop vibe to me. She's also backed off of Louise a little, and the two have managed to foster a reasonable level of friendship, though Louise is still wary to invite her to things because she flat out doesn't trust her.
The other background characters I absolutely adore are Tammy and Jocelyn. I always ship them, and I thought it would be a cute cameo that they show up to trivia night and just have fun drinking and giggling with each other rather than taking the game seriously.
Thank you so much for asking, and I hope this answered all of your questions (◕ᴗ◕✿) I don't think I have any other Roudise on the backburner (´;ω;`) but if you choose to reas any of my other upcoming stories I hope you enjoy just as much as you did Bittersweet Reunion!
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Things I Loved About Fleabag (2016):
The careful balance of spiralling and sincerity that keeps you rooting for resolution and relief, despite the show intentionally framing itself around grief
The way that it is clear based on the way that they talk about her that Fleabag is a great deal like her mother (her off-colour jokes, her charisma, even hints of difficult friendships through the Godmother) but they don't have anyone make that comparison until the last episode of S2, with, "You are the way you are because of [your mother]" and the look of surprise on Fleabag's face when she hears it
"Don't make me an optimist; you will ruin my life," being such a telling line, because as you fall in love with the Priest, and Fleabag, you want to believe that things will work themselves out
The love in Claire's line to Fleabag, "The only person I'd run through an airport for is you," and the delightful contrary optimism of her deciding to go to the airport anyway
The revelation that Boo had offered to take Fleabag's love for her mother, intertwining both losses
The way that the Priest not only breaks through the carefully constructed narrative relationship that Fleabag has with the viewer, but also himself directly looks toward the audience on a separate beat as he tries to understand her more ("You don't like answering questions, do you?")
The entire sequence of the last few scenes, "Being a romantic takes a hell of a lot of hope," to "I love you." "It'll pass," to Fleabag walking around with a statue that is, in some ways now, a physical representation of the love she is carrying around. Because while the show is about grief, and love, it doesn't feel like it is asking you to overcome those things, but to learn to live with them while moving forward
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Been seein some rather cold takes about Daisy lately…
I’ve seen some people say that she has no personality outside of fanon, but that’s just not true. There is a very very common misconception among the fandom (at least that I’ve noticed) that if a character doesn’t appear in a “mainline” game, then they have no personality. But I’d argue that the spinoffs actually offer waaaaay more in terms of looking into character personalities. And no, I’m not talking about the RPGs ala M&L and Paper Mario as those are obviously full of personality (and Daisy isn’t in those). I’m talking about the Party, Kart, Tennis, and other sports games.
Yes, Daisy hasn’t appeared in any mainline game since her debut, but she’s been in nearly every sports game and her traits, stats, abilities, victory/loss animations, and various other tiny details add up to her personality. The fact that she’s nearly always yelling or just speaking really loud in general (noticeably more than any other character), the fact that she constantly feels a need to say her name and make herself known, how she loves flowers and considers even a small patch of flowers worth protecting, how she’s easily bored by tasks that don’t excite her and isn’t so reliable for them. She tends to jump around a lot, and spin and dance around when she’s excited! She’s apparently a rather fast runner and that is considered her specialty! These are all traits that are displayed in the spinoffs, and there’s probably soooo many more that I just can’t remember right now.
Now, I do think her tomboyish nature is probably fanon, as I don’t really remember seeing anything to show that she acts that way in the games. I think people probably think she’s tomboyish due to how loud and energetic she is. But hey, there’s plenty of fanon for just about any character from any fandom out there. And what’s so wrong with that? Isn’t the whole point of making fanworks to expand on the framework already provided by canon? If we want to stick to what’s actually “canon” then nearly everything the fandom has created would have to be tossed, because there really isn’t much to work with. Fanworks and fandoms thrive on what fans can create based on the canon work, not just sticking to it perfectly.
It’s fine if you think the “fanon” Daisy outshines the “canon” Daisy and you dislike that. But to say that she has no personality aside from fanon interpretations just tells me that you have a very narrow idea of what counts as “canon” in an already rather simplistic world. The Mario games are very simple and straightforward without much consistent lore that actually makes sense cohesively, but the characters are what keep everything tied together despite that. The characters are nearly always consistent, and that includes Daisy. Even when the setting is completely different and some random new villain shows up with some random new power source to steal or species to torment, our same well-known lovable characters will be the center of the story and that’s what makes it fun!
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WIP Intro - Colour WIP
When a Purple mage – part of the serving class – is found and saved from following her colours expectations, she joins an overambitious heist crew, looking to obliterate a device that could change the world as they know it. As she learns more about the world and her magic, she slowly comes to realise that real life isn’t quite as perfect as the stories she was told…
Starring!
Fina Luceros: Purple mage, sheltered from the outside world for fear of her being snatched away and groomed into servitude. Idealistic dreamer, anticipates things to be much more exciting than they end up being. Eleven years old and eager to please.
Red: Red mage, living legend, survived a typically deadly colour swarm and emerged changed from the event. Leader of the heist crew and the one who stopped Fina being snatched away. Arrogant and head-strong, often looks down on others for not matching his skill level. Completely blind.
Clem: Orange mage. Expelled student who was studying the effects of colour storms (and their absence) on mages. Badly affected by an old orange storm, and feels the impact of it quite consistently. Cannot stand Red.
Sunny: Yellow mage. Stoic and serious, speaks very rarely, mostly uses sign language to be understood.
Lief: Green mage. Non-nonsense, runs the business behind the scenes. Excellent kickass grandma vibes. Wants to be Normal.
Brighton Blackling: Blue mage, heir to a very powerful conglomerate and determined to keep it that way. Scientist and inventor. Obnoxious asshole, looks down on nearly everyone for pretty much everything. The one who called for and is funding the heist.
Bernadette Blackling: Magicless, Brighton's younger sister, desperate to inherit the family business. Diligent socialite with a heart of ice. Methodical and ruthless, working hard to out-do her brother and earn the inheritance, and created:
Elan Soot: White mage, failed test subject in Bernadette's bid to create a mage able to control all colours. Emerged stripped of and tormented by any pigment - works to bleach them out and make a 'perfect' world for themselves. Red's supposedly dead sibling, Bernadette's lover. Impulsive and abrupt.
Featuring fucked up sibling dynamics, a cutthroat gang trying to push the boundaries of what lowerclassmen can do, sentient and mood-altering magic, and cycles of behaviour that repeat over and over and over, often ending with abrupt betrayal.
Tagged under #colour wip. Comic sans intro. Short story.
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Hi. I have a question about, I guess, crediting/reccing your tumblr stuff? Basically I am writing fic that is in many ways directly inspired by some of the work youve posted to your tumblr (specifically fox & leia's holiday special and the mace & fox stuff in your no chip au), and I want to tell my readers that I am inspired by/drawing from much better fics than my own, but I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with people like. broadcasting your tumblr fic. If that fic isnt posted to AO3 for a reason then I want to make sure that telling people about it or linking to it isn't drawing more attention to it than you'd like. I mean personally I'm like. obsessed with your fic genuinely the best fox stuff ever put into writing but I just wanted to check to see if you're okay with me saying that publicly to my humble readership. (I've already linked to twilight on owl creek bridge because it lives in my brain rent free but thats on ao3 already).
anyway thanks for writing and for fielding this question. your work is amazing. have a good one
Hello! That's absolutely no problem, and thanks for asking. You're welcome to mention and promote whatever fic of mine you want, on Tumblr or AO3. Just credit me by AO3 and Tumblr handle and give me some way of seeing it!! I love Fox and Mace and I'd love to see other people's takes on them!!
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